Wonders of Modern Day Photography

Preface:
As I think about my career as a Firefighter and recently retiring as a Fire Chief after 35 years of service, I reflect back to a time when I had a professional business in Photography which spanned 12 years in the USA. Though I would do this during my off duty time from firefighting, I found that the time spent as a photographer of people, landscapes and animals was very rewarding and an excellent stress reliever from the emergency responses during my career. Though I was based in Florida I traveled all over the world shooting Weddings, Home Based Family Portraits and Landscapes with the occasional wildlife and family pets. It was a truly rewarding experience and now I am back shooting the things I like. If you are interested in some of my latest work please see my website at: http://1-tom-wade.artistwebsites.com/index.html

On to the subject at hand:

Black & White Photography: Starting out in photography during grade school, as an after school project, in the 1970's I found that taking photo's and developing shots in the darkroom was very inspiring and rewarding as you see your photo materialize in front of you! The use of 35mm film and medium format films was the focus (no pun intended) of the time and digital photography was not even a remote consideration in those days. Though my favorite format, even today, is Medium to Large format print films for the larger photographs such as poster sized, etc... I find that todays technology is a wondrous improvement in some ways though I still find that working with true Black & White photo's in the darkroom has a better overall look as computer programs do not seem to have the delicate and subtle light reflections that you get in the darkroom without a lot of faffing about! That is my opinion and if someone has a program that has the technical qualities to do this type of work and not look like a digital photograph I would like to know about it!

Now, from a colour standpoint: there are many opportunities to take quality photographs using today's technologies for colour that is hard to beat in the darkroom. I find that the saturation of colour is very hard to replicate in the darkroom however, I see that many people overdo the colour saturation to try and make it stand out though, in my opinion, it is not something you see in nature and feel that takes away from the very thing a photographer tries to capture. Depending on your approach - the use of wild colours or maybe abstract should be noted as that and not try to sell a print as an actual vision that can be seen in nature... Too many times I see photo's that have been so over-doctored that it should be an abstract. I would like to say that I am not a complete purest, though I would like the more natural look of things that can be seen everyday.

To complete this blog: The use of digital media today has its place and I feel is dependent on the artist or photographer. I would recommend that you find the type of photography that you enjoy and not spend a fortune on photographic equipment if you are not entertaining going into the business of selling photo's. There are many well built and photographically stunning cameras that will not cost you an arm and a leg to get the results you are looking for. Do your research and see what looks best for your overall look you are trying to achieve. Visit the site listed above and look at other professionals work if you are looking for something nice that you would not be able to perform with the basic camera's as a lot of work goes into the professionals work and the site listed above "Fine Art America" has loads of great works of art for that perfect spot on your office or home walls. Enjoy the opportunity to have that visually stunning items you like whether it is from an artist/photographer or by your own intuitive desires.

Tom Wade

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